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My vinyl ripping experience. Some thoughts and comments...

Posted by AbeCollins (A) on December 22, 2022 at 21:07:49

In Reply to: Ripping my vinyl ... posted by andyr on December 21, 2022 at 17:38:15:

I digitized a handful my vinyl LP's using two different ADC. The results were excellent whether I used the $300 HRT LineStreamer+ with my outboard phono preamp or the $1800 PS Audio NuWave Phono Converter (ADC + Phono all in one).

HOWEVER, I hear better results with digital to digital rips from CD or paid-for album downloads. If you already own the album on CD you're probably better off ripping from it (or buying the download) rather than ripping the LP. Why? Because of generational loss and the inherent limited dynamic range of a LP. Because of this I also ripped at "only" 24/96kHz (which is sufficient to fully capture whatever the LP can produce) and found no difference in sound quality ripping at the higher 24/192kHz. If you can really hear the difference - good for you. Go for it! I don't claim to be a golden ear. Oh, I also manually 'fixed' the louder clicks and pops using Audacity leaving the minor ones and any background noise alone.

Another very important point is to get the level right. Using Audacity it is OK to very occasionally clip (into the red) or at least have the level up so it's in the green most of the time. Otherwise you risk the outcome being dynamically a bit weak.

Case in point. I received a thumb drive full of music from a well known Asylum Inmate who was very proud to show off his vinyl rips using his TASCAM DA-3000. It does DSD rips too. He wanted to ensure great "dynamic range" but unfortunately in this endeavor he ripped these files at such low signal levels that they were all anemic sounding even with my system volume turned way up. Only HIS files required the volume to be cranked up so high. Yet they still sounded flat, dead, anemic.

I digitized about a dozen albums, breaking up each track and painstakingly inputting all the meta data for each track, then decided it wasn't worth my time. It was a personal challenge to try and it was FUN - for a while. Your Mileage May Vary - or should I say, Your Patience May Vary ;-)

I no longer rip CDs, rip vinyl, or download hi-res music. In addition to rips that I already own, I stream from Qobuz and Tidal.

As for Roon, it performs various DSP and can sound pretty good but IMHO it sounds better with few DSP options enabled. The only so-called DSP I will use is Volume Leveling and an occasional "Loudness" contour (to simulate the old school LOUD button). But my system is a basic 2-channel setup with no active cross-overs, multiple amps, and multiple DACs. And as an aside I consider my main DACs to sound better than the entry model Topping E30 - which I also own. For higher-end DSP there's HQPlayer but that can be a real resource hog (CPU cycles) depending on settings.

Just my 2-cents worth above. Enjoy!

A couple of my vinyl digitizing (ripping) setups from many years ago:

KAB modified Technics SL-1200, Dynavector DV20XH, PS Audio GCPH Phono, HRT Linestreamer+ USB ADC, Laptop computer, free Audacity software. Headphones for realtime monitoring

Similar setup here but no separate external phono as the PS Audio NuWave Phono Converter has the Phono and ADC in one box. Ayre made a similar 'high end' product. Both the Ayre and PS Audio were discontinued years ago probably due to the waning interest in digitizing (ripping) LPs.

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Additional random photos from my setups:

Edits: 12/22/22 12/22/22

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